Best Commonweal Magazine Podcasts (2025)

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Ep. 151 - The First U.S. Pontiff 23:37

12d ago23:37

23:37

The swift elevation to the papacy of Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost—known simply as ‘Bob’ among his fellow Augustinian friars—defied pundits’ predictions even as it was met with joy by Catholics around the world. It’s impossible to say just how Leo XIV’s papacy will unfold, though in his early Masses and remarks the pope has already v…

1
Ep. 150 - Remembering Francis 46:34

1M ago46:34

46:34

Three theologians—Massimo Faggioli, Susan Bigelow Reynolds, and Terence Sweeney—reflect with Commonweal editors on the pope’s legacy. More coverage of the death of Pope Francis: Isabella Simon on Let Us Dream César J. Baldelomar on Laudato Si’ Griffin Oleynick on Evangelii gaudiumBy Commonweal Magazine

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Ep. 149 - When the Good Book Isn’t a Book 30:31

2M ago30:31

30:31

Catholics listen to snippets of the Bible read every Sunday, but how many of them actually sit with and ponder the text? It’s long been a truism that Catholics don’t actually read the Bible — at least not as much or in the same way as their Protestant brethren. But that doesn’t mean Catholics don’t encounter it, whether in books, films, plays, or p…

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Ep. 148 - What Novels Do 30:50

3M ago30:50

30:50

What should great fiction do for us? That’s the question asked by Edwin Frank, editorial director of New York Review Books and author of Stranger than Fiction: Lives of the Twentieth-Century Novel. Good books—and there were many written during the past hundred years—can entertain, just as they can give us pleasure. But great ones have the ‘power to…

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Ep. 147 - The New ‘Preeminent Urgency’ 39:00

3M ago39:00

39:00

In his first month back in office, Donald Trump has made cruelty toward migrants and refugees central to his agenda, while J. D. Vance has used his flawed understanding of Catholic social teaching to justify the administration’s plans for mass deportation. Their actions and remarks have alarmed many in the Church. On this episode, three guests tell…

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Ep. 146 - Aging in America 42:25

4M ago42:25

42:25

Fights over federal spending usually follow a predictable pattern, with Republicans attempting to cut entitlement programs as Democrats seek to expand the social safety net. One thing that’s rarely threatened, though, is Social Security, a testament to the political clout of “older people”—formerly known as “senior citizens” in America. How did thi…

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Ep. 145 - Memory Matters 1:03:47

4M ago1:03:47

1:03:47

For as long as humans beings have existed, we have had a knack for forgetting—not only when memory proves difficult, but when it becomes inconvenient. We need only look at Donald Trump’s pardoning of the January 6 “hostages” for the latest, most egregious example. Why do humans long to forget? Why do we hide the truth from ourselves? What is the fu…

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Ep. 144 - Best Interviews of 2024 35:51

5M ago35:51

35:51

As you probably know by now, 2024 was a big year for Commonweal, marking one hundred years of continuous publication. It was also an important one for the podcast, which for five years—and nearly one hundred and fifty episodes—has been bringing you reflective conversations with inspiring writers, thinkers, artists, and political and religious leade…

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Ep. 143 - ‘Hope Grows in the Dark’ 31:12

6M ago31:12

31:12

What does it mean to “have hope,” especially during challenging times? Is it something we can possess, like a talisman to ward off despair? No, argues Norman Wirzba, distinguished professor of Christian theology at Duke and author of the new book Love’s Braided Dance: Hope in a Time of Crisis. Instead, “hope” is a verb—an action we have to do. On t…

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Ep. 142 - ‘What Backlash Looks Like’ 27:29

6M ago27:29

27:29

In the wake of the 2024 election, many are wondering how to make sense of the results—including how a capable, qualified woman could lose to a man like Donald Trump, an adjudicated rapist whose campaign regularly celebrated a version of masculinity that many find offensively misogynistic. On this episode, Commonweal editor-at-large Mollie Wilson O’…

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Ep. 141 - Follow the Money 27:29

7M ago27:29

27:29

The invitation-only Catholic prelature known as Opus Dei, founded in Spain in 1927 by the recently canonized priest Josemaría Escrivá, currently counts just around 3,000 members in the United States. Yet its influence, especially among rightwing Catholics who occupy significant posts in Washington, is vast. On this episode, editor Dominic Preziosi …

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Ep. 140 - Fewer Screens, More Meaning 26:56

7M ago26:56

26:56

It’s no secret that there’s a mental health crisis affecting young people in the United States. Rates of anxiety, symptoms of depression, and even suicide attempts have hit record highs. That’s partly what motivated Anna Moreland and Thomas Smith to write The Young Adult Playbook, a kind of “self-help” book intended to help high school and college …

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Ep. 139 - Detroit’s Black Christian Utopia 40:44

8M ago40:44

40:44

The Trump campaign has made us all too familiar with the ideology of Christian Nationalism, with its violent rhetoric and racist undertones. Far less well-known, though, is the tradition of Black Christian Nationalism, a radical social and religious movement founded by Rev. Albert Cleage, Jr., in civil-rights-era Detroit. On this episode, associate…

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Ep. 138 - The Work AI Can’t Do 30:20

8M ago30:20

30:20

Corporate boosters of artificial intelligence promise that the technology will vastly improve efficiency in the world of work. But is that actually desirable? On this episode, associate editor Regina Munch speaks with University of Virginia sociologist Allison Pugh, whose new book The Last Human Job explores the concept of what she calls “connectiv…

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Ep. 137 - Epic in the Everyday 31:55

9M ago31:55

31:55

Garth Greenwell’s latest novel, Small Rain, is set in a midwestern ICU during the early days of the pandemic, as its unnamed narrator, a writer, experiences a health crisis and lies confined to his bed in excruciating pain. In long pauses between visits with nurses and doctors, amid the weird dilations of ‘hospital time,’ the narrator muses on his …

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Ep. 136 - Are Catholic Colleges Unique? 31:32

9M ago31:32

31:32

As the fall semester begins, colleges and universities are bracing for fresh controversies over free speech, affordability, and the disruptive potential of artificial intelligence. On this episode, Tania Tetlow, the first layperson and first woman to serve as the president of Fordham University, joins editor Dominic Preziosi to weigh in on what Cat…

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Ep. 135 - When A Church Dies 33:17

10M ago33:17

33:17

Religious disaffiliation, the drifting away of Americans from their churches, isn’t a new story. But it’s certainly a true one. And yet it’s also not the whole story, as veteran New Yorker journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Eliza Griswold argues in her new book, Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church. Gris…

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Ep. 134 - Whose Paris? 24:36

10M ago24:36

24:36

The 2024 Paris Olympics have brought massive investment to the City of Light, including the construction of new housing, sports facilities, and public transportation. Yet we shouldn’t let that obscure a more sinister phenomenon: gentrification, which has rapidly transformed many of the city’s former immigrant and working-class strongholds into expe…

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Ep. 133 - ‘Live from Death Row’ 33:30

11M ago33:30

33:30

Alim Braxton, a convicted murderer who admits his guilt, has been incarcerated in North Carolina prison for more than thirty years, spending seven years in solitary confinement and many more on death row. He was once hopeless, but after his conversion to Islam many years ago, he began working for redemption by advocating for prison reform and the e…

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Ep. 132 - The Glory of ‘Too Much’ 28:12

11M ago28:12

28:12

Egalitarianism remains one of the core tenets of most liberals and progressives. But does the idea that everyone ought to be equal in the sphere of political economy also hold true for the realm of culture? Absolutely not, argues Becca Rothfeld, nonfiction book critic at the Washington Post and author of the debut collection All Things Are Too Smal…

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Ep. 131 - How to Talk About Having Kids 27:33

12M ago27:33

27:33

In the past, having kids was simply taken for granted. It was just a thing a person did, like going to college or getting a job. But now, in the face of rising costs and environmental degradation, more and more millennials and zoomers are questioning whether they should become parents at all. On this episode, Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi is j…

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Ep. 130 - What Plants Know (And Why We Should Care) 31:08

1y ago31:08

31:08

Can trees ‘hear’? Can flowers ‘see’? Are shrubs ‘intelligent’? A decade ago, these questions might have seemed absurd. But an emerging scientific consensus posits that plants are much more like animals than previously thought. On this episode, managing editor Isa Simon speaks with Zoë Schlanger, a staff writer and science reporter at The Atlantic a…

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Ep. 129 - Judaism’s Loving Heart 31:18

1y ago31:18

31:18

One of the misconceptions about Judaism is that the religion is concerned primarily with justice and the law, not love and grace. That’s precisely backward, argues Rabbi Shai Held, president and dean of the Hadar Institute in New York and author of the new book Judaism Is About Love. Jewish theology, spirituality, and ethics emerge as free response…

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Ep. 128 - Diagnosing Disadvantage in America 31:17

1y ago31:17

31:17

For decades, discussions of poverty and inequality in America have tended to focus on cities. That’s understandable—cities are often the places where income disparities are most visible. But as poverty researchers Kathryn Edin, H. Luke Schaefer, and Timothy Nelson argue in their recent book The Injustice of Place, traditional income-based indicator…

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Ep. 127 - Criticism as a Way of Life 27:50

1y ago27:50

27:50

Vinson Cunningham is one of the most dynamic critics working today. Best known as the New Yorker’s theater critic and co-host of the weekly podcast Critics at Large, he’s also the author of the novel Great Expectations, based on his experience working for the Obama campaign in 2008. On this episode, Cunningham joins Commonweal contributing writer A…

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Ep. 126 - God, According to Marilynne Robinson 29:28

1y ago29:28

29:28

We’re all familiar with the tired stereotype of the “God of the Old Testament,” a capricious creator Who subjects His chosen people to endless cycles of punishment and retribution. But in her reading of the Book of Genesis, novelist and essayist Marilynne Robinson describes a God of gentleness, one wildly in love with creation and humanity. In this…

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Ep. 125 - What Are Universities For? 29:16

1y ago29:16

29:16

The past year or so hasn’t been the best one for higher education. Debates over affirmative action, free speech, and affordability, combined with recent cuts to the humanities, have led many to wonder what the future holds. Here to speak about all of this is Nicholas Dirks, former chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, and author of …

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Ep. 124 - The GOP Attack on Catholic Shelters at the Border 22:38

1y ago22:38

22:38

Recent weeks have seen an intensification of the Republican campaign against Catholic groups that offer assistance to migrants and refugees along the southern border. Last month, Texas state attorney general Ken Paxton announced a lawsuit against Annunciation House, a network of houses of hospitality run by Catholic volunteers in El Paso, Texas. On…

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Ep. 123 - The Hall Beside Belief 32:46

1+ y ago32:46

32:46

For many religious people, the pandemic accelerated a decline in institutional allegiance and trust that was already well underway. Many Catholics stopped attending Mass and still haven’t returned. One figure who thinks deeply about the contemporary decline in religious practice and affiliation is Irish poet and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama, host of …

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Ep. 122 - The New Suburbia 28:43

1+ y ago28:43

28:43

For the first time, a majority of Americans now live in the suburbs—places that have been transformed over the past several decades by boom-and-bust construction cycles and rapid demographic shifts. On this episode, associate editor Regina Munch speaks with journalist Benjamin Herold about his new book Disillusioned: Five Families and the Unravelin…

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Ep. 121 - Rescuer of the Written Word 26:19

1+ y ago26:19

26:19

For decades, Fr. Columba Stewart, a Benedictine Monk of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, has traveled the world in an effort to preserve manuscripts belonging to endangered communities. On this episode, Fr. Stewart joins Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi to discuss how he first got involved in this work, the care and attention it requi…

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Ep. 120 - An Evening with Christian Wiman 28:13

1+ y ago28:13

28:13

Last month, Commonweal hosted a book launch in New York City with poet Christian Wiman. The topic was his new book Zero at the Bone: 50 Entries Against Despair, a mixture of poetry, essays, quotations, and close readings. The former editor of Poetry magazine and now a professor at Yale Divinity School, Wiman has long been an admirer of Commonweal. …

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Ep. 119 - Best of 2023 32:59

1+ y ago32:59

32:59

On this special year-end episode, we’re revisiting four of our favorite conversations from the past year. Sociologist Matthew Desmond explains how the United States can choose to abolish poverty. Sr. Helen Prejean and singer Ryan McKinney discuss the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Dead Man Walking. Poet-scholar and slam champion Joshua Bennett …

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Ep. 118 - Why Conservatives Should Be Pro-Labor 34:52

1+ y ago34:52

34:52

American workers have fared poorly in recent decades, suffering the loss not just of purchasing power, but of political power, too. On this episode, Commonweal senior editor Matt Boudway speaks with journalist Sohrab Ahmari, a conservative political commentator and editor whose new book Tyranny, Inc critiques corporate power in a way that will reso…

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Ep. 117 - Processing the Synod 34:37

1+ y ago34:37

34:37

Last month’s Synod on Synodality in Rome is perhaps one of the most important ecclesial gatherings to take place since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. But what exactly happened remains unclear. On this episode, Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi is joined by two experts on Vatican affairs to help explain and contextualize the synod’s work.…

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Ep. 116 - Saving Liberalism 45:20

1+ y ago45:20

45:20

Today, the political and social philosophy known as liberalism—which champions democracy, individual rights, and free enterprise—is on the defensive. Conservatives often charge it with eroding community, while some progressives view it as a justification for economic exploitation. On this episode, Yale political theorist Samuel Moyn, author of the …

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Ep. 115 - An Opera for ‘Life People’ 29:08

1+ y ago29:08

29:08

Dead Man Walking, based on the acclaimed memoir by Sr. Helen Prejean, may be the world’s most popular contemporary opera. But it had never before been performed on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City—until now. On this special episode, in anticipation of the Met Opera’s Live-in-HD broadcast in cinemas on October 21, host Domi…

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Ep. 114 - Moving With the Ocean 27:59

1+ y ago27:59

27:59

With its frequent earthquakes, mudslides, wildfires, and other maladies, California is no stranger to environmental disaster. But in the long run, even these highly visible effects of climate change pale in comparison to the looming threat of sea-level rise. On this episode, Commonweal’s Claudia Avila Cosnahan, a resident of southern California, sp…

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Ep. 113 - How to Abolish Poverty 32:47

1+ y ago32:47

32:47

The fact that nearly 40 million Americans live in poverty is a national embarrassment. But it’s also a choice. If poverty exists, it’s because we “wish and will it to.” That’s the thesis of Princeton sociologist Matthew Desmond, who joins Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi to discuss Desmond’s recent book Poverty, By America. We don’t need to capit…

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Ep. 112 - Has News Always Been ‘Fake’? 32:42

1+ y ago32:42

32:42

The 2016 presidential election brought “fake news” to the center of national debates over media bias, election interference, free speech, and content moderation. But the phenomenon isn’t exactly new. Misleading stories, sensationalism, and outright lies, explains Andie Tucher, have been part of American journalism from the very beginning. A profess…

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Ep. 111 - Writers Shouldn’t ‘Prance’ 26:05

2y ago26:05

26:05

John McPhee is widely regarded as America’s most prolific nonfiction author. Over a career spanning seven decades, McPhee has written more than thirty books, elucidating everything from shipping and boatbuilding to geology, engineering, and aviation. On this episode, McPhee joins contributing writer Tony Domestico to discuss his latest book, Tabula…

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Ep. 110 - Living for God Alone 35:12

2y ago35:12

35:12

Religious life stands in radical opposition to much of modern culture. But what is it, exactly? On this episode, philosopher Zena Hitz speaks with senior editor Matt Boudway about her new book on religious life—a crucial part of the Catholic Church, and one that remains poorly understood. Religious life is not primarily about what you give up, Hitz…

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Ep. 109 - Bordering on Compassion 39:33

2y ago39:33

39:33

The border is a place, but it is also a metaphor: for our complicated personal identities and political allegiances, and for the moral claims made on us by those born on the other side. On this episode, interpreter and activist Alejandra Oliva, author of Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith, and Migration, shares insights from her work with a…

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Ep. 108 - God’s Editor 31:25

2y ago31:25

31:25

Though you’ve probably never heard of him, book editor Eugene Exman (1900–1975) exerted tremendous influence on the shape of American religion in the twentieth century. On this episode, special projects editor Miles Doyle speaks with Stephen Prothero, author of the new Exman biography God the Bestseller: How One Editor Transformed American Religion…

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Ep. 107 - Rescuing Philosophy 37:11

2y ago37:11

37:11

What should philosophy do? Despite record numbers of practitioners, today the discipline is in crisis, awash in abstraction and increasingly isolated—even within the academy. But there’s a way out, argues veteran philosopher Philip Kitcher. It starts with attending to the ordinary concerns of human life, then illuminating them with clear, rigorous …

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Ep. 106 - Belief in Something Big 30:20

2y ago30:20

30:20

At first glance, John West’s Lessons and Carols: A Meditation on Recovery is an unconventional memoir about addiction and the healing power of community. But it also addresses the challenges of belief today, when almost everything—the nation, religious institutions, the environment—appears on the verge of collapse. On this episode, West speaks with…

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Ep. 105 - How Hospitals Could Be 39:50

2y ago39:50

39:50

Is single-payer health care really feasible in America? For one Texas physician, the answer is an unqualified ‘yes.’ On this episode, Commonweal associate editor Regina Munch speaks with Ricardo Nuila, an internist at Houston’s Ben Taub hospital and author of the new book The People’s Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine. Then, as Commonwe…

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Ep. 104 - After We’re Gone 29:17

2y ago29:17

29:17

Would the world actually be better without us? For most of human history, the question was inconceivable. But now, anxious over climate change and elated at technological breakthroughs, a growing chorus of thinkers is heralding the end of humanity’s reign on Earth. On this episode, poet and critic Adam Kirsch, author of The Revolt Against Humanity:…

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Ep. 103 - Out Loud 42:00

2y ago42:00

42:00

As National Poetry Month draws to a close, Commonweal’s Claudia Avila Cosnahan is joined by poet, scholar, and professor Joshua Bennett to talk about his new book, Spoken Word: A Cultural History. A prominent slam champion himself, Bennett explains how spoken word poetry has shaped his life and how the art form contributes to the ongoing work of co…

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Ep. 102 - Writing Climate Change 18:08

2y ago18:08

18:08

In honor of Earth Week, we’re releasing a special bonus episode featuring our friend Dorothy Fortenberry in conversation with Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi. Fortenberry, who has written and commented widely on climate change, is also the co-writer and executive producer of Extrapolations, a new show on Apple TV+ that imagines what life on Eart…

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